Nice Bumping Into You
by WritingDistractions
Summary: Prompt: You're my annoying arch nemesis and I finally captured you and can end you, but I pulled off your mask and you're actually really cute and I kinda don't want to kill you (superhero AU)


**I'm taking tumblr prompt requests right now. I haven't written a lucaya fic in ages so this was fun. Sorry if it seems a little ooc, I did my best. I hope you like it!**

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 _42\. You're my annoying arch nemesis and I finally captured you and can end you, but I pulled off your mask and you're actually really cute and I kinda don't want to kill you (superhero AU)_

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Lucas wasn't having the best day. His car broke down, he got laid off at work, and to top it all off he got captured by his arch nemesis. Just a typical day in a superhero's life.

Lucas was known to the city of Austin, Texas as Shotgun, a vigilante that stopped abnormal, insane, or inhuman criminals that attempted to wreak havoc on the city. Was his work terrifying and life-threatening? Yes. But it was his responsibility to protect people. Lucas wouldn't have his life any other way.

Shotgun was known for his keen marksmanship, incredible hand-to-hand combat skills, and the fact that he was nearly indestructable. He was recognized by his signature cowboy hat and black mask. Lucas would be lying if he said he didn't steal a few ideas from The Lone Ranger. His suit, containing blue, brown, and tan colors, was designed to withstand anything his body could. He also had a belt with two gun slings and a clip for his rope (cause every southern superhero needs a rope that cancels out inhuman abilities of villains).

There was one last important fact about Shotgun and that was his enemy. He's fought hundreds of bad guys, but only one managed to slip from his grasp time after time. The Masqued Heart. Also, this bad guy happened to be a girl. She also happened to be able to turn herself invisible. He first heard of her when news stations reported a masked criminal looting and stealing from just about everywhere and then disappearing into thin air. The crimes continued across the country, and everywhere she went and it got much worse than just looting. Lucas' first run-in with her was when she was robbing a jewelry store in Austin, his hometown. After that, she didn't seem to stop popping up in various Texas cities. There was something about the state that kept her there, perhaps unfinished business. Lucas never could put his finger on it.

When he was captured, it was just like any other night. Shotgun didn't work alone, contrary to what the public believed, and they were helping him just like any other night. His team guided him through all of his missions at J.Q.A. Labs. There was a long backstory, describing how Lucas received his inhuman endurance but it is an unfortunate one and for another time. Working at the labs, behind the scenes of his heroics, were four people: Riley Matthews, Farkle Minkus, Isadora Smackle, and Zay Babineaux. The first three made up the brains behind the operation while Zay, Lucas' best friend since childhood, happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and discovered Lucas' secret identity. For a month after that he demanded to be part of Shotgun's team. He's kind of Lucas' ordinary, less known, sidekick.

"Okay, Lucas, the building should be down the next alleyway," Riley informed him through his earpiece.

"Roger that."

Lucas kicked down the door of the abandoned building to find it well, abandoned. There was no sign of the fugitives or claimed stolen goods at all. All he could see through the darkness was dust and building remains.

"Do you see anything?"

"No. There's nothing here."

"Check the other levels," Farkle commanded from the lab.

Lucas did as he was told, cautiously moving up each level. Honestly, he should be embarrassed about what happened next. One moment he was creeping along the building's wall and the next he had a knife to his throat.

"Move and you're dead," a female voice threatened. She appeared out of nowhere. Man, this invisibility thing was really getting on his nerves.

"Lucas? Lucas, what's happening?" Riley asked, having heard the threat. "Who's there?"

"And you can tell your little friends back home that you won't be needing them the rest of the night."

The mysterious figure ripped the communication system out of his ear and though he couldn't move his neck to see, Lucas heard the sound of a foot crushing it. The figure tugged him down to her height (and jeez okay ow, Lucas doesn't bend that far, especially with a knife at his neck. How short is this person?) and dragged him backwards. Once they traveled down one flight of stairs to the level below the criminal spun him away from herself. Shotgun never had the opportunity to grab at her. He caught a glimpse of a masquerade mask, then there was a spray of an unknown substance, then darkness.

When Lucas came to, he was tied to a chair with his own rope. Just great.

"You know, for a superhero I thought it'd be a lot harder to capture you," a voice came from the darkness. Lucas squinted to try and find the body it belonged to.

"Don't feel so accomplished. You've never captured me before," Lucas spat back.

The criminal materialized before him and revealed herself. He knew it was the Masqued Heart before he even saw her; he knew her voice perfectly by now. It was always surprising to actually _see_ her though. Her signature gold and red masquerade mask graced her face, along with a red scarf that wove its way around her neck and mouth and then draped itself over her head, covering almost all of her face and hair. Lucas took a moment to take in what this woman looked like, never having been able to before while chasing her. The scarf fell down to her waist and was tucked into a belt where Lucas spotted a gun, a knife, and were those? Ninja stars? Tiny knives? Lucas had no idea. The Masqued Heart's suit was red and black with small gold accents, matching her mask. Around her wrists were two identical bands that Lucas knew were tasers, and two knives slid out of them for hand-to-hand combat. He had had experience with both of those functions. Not fun.

"Ah, and that's because I never _tried_."

Now that Lucas thought about it, she really hadn't. It was always him trying to stop her from whatever crimes she was committing. His mind raced searching for reasons she captured him now. She seemed to be alone… What did that mean?

"Why are you capturing me now, then?"  
"Because," she began, darkly. She paused, and then whined, "What's your deal man?"

Lucas furrowed his eyebrows. He wasn't expecting that. "What?"

"Like, why do you keep following me everywhere?" She asked, annoyed and tired, as if Shotgun was just some little boy who wouldn't stop tugging her ponytail on the playground. "Stop ruining my plans!"

"I- uh-," Lucas coughed, searching for the right words. "You're a criminal. It's my job to stop you."

"I was afraid you'd say that," The Masqued Heart sighed and pulled out her gun. "Nothing personal, I just really need you to keep your nose out of my business. We've been doing this a while. It's been just peachy getting to know you and all, cowboy, but it needs to end. You see, I'm not the bad guy here. It's all about perspective. And from my perspective, I'm the good guy, not you. Although it is bothering me, who's the man beneath the cheesy cowboy hat and black mask? Now that I've got you all tied up, nothing is stopping me from finding out."

 _No, no, no,_ Lucas thought. This couldn't be happening. The last person he needed knowing his identity was his arch nemesis.

"And don't worry about everyone discovering your little identity, Ranger Rick. I'm going to kill you by the end of the night."

"Look, you don't have to do this," he tried to reason.

"Yes I do," the girl said sternly.

"Maybe we could work something out."

"Not likely," the villain said. "You talk too much, Hopalong. I do believe you're trying to delay your fate. Let's see who the cowboy really is."

Lucas squinted his eyes closed, wishing she wouldn't. The Masqued Heart reached forward with one hand and ripped the cowboy hat off his head and threw it on the ground. She then tugged the mask off his face, letting it fall around his neck. He felt her step back.

Nothing happened. Lucas peeked one eye open and saw the girl just standing before him silently analyzing him. She didn't say anything for a while; she was just taking in his appearance. Lucas felt very exposed under her gaze.

The blonde girl wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but she certainly didn't expect to see a man. It sounded ridiculous, but Shotgun seemed far too fantastic to be a common man. Nevertheless, sitting before her was a man, around her own age, with a cutting jawline, tan skin, messy dirty blonde hair and stunning green eyes. And _wow_ she certainly wasn't expecting him to be so attractive. Weren't superheroes supposed to be tragically deformed? Was that not a thing? Then again, she was a villain and she looked perfectly normal beneath her disguise.

"Oh," she said quietly.

The man before her furrowed his brows- god that was cute, he needed to stop that now.

"What?"

"Nothing, I just- didn't expect you to look like that," she admitted.

"Like what? A real guy?" he laughed a little. And oh god, she really liked his smile. This was not okay.

"No, you're just so…" the woman trailed off. "Ordinary."

"Gee, thanks."

She continued to examine him, fascinated by the man she never knew existed underneath Shotgun. She must have stared a while, because he coughed awkwardly, still tied to the chair.

"So, are you gonna kill me now or can I try to escape?"

The gun suddenly felt very heavy in her hand as she lifted it. She couldn't kill him. This was a man, a human, just like her. Maybe he had a family. He certainly had parents somewhere. Friends too probably. Plus he was really cute (which didn't mean anything, but it didn't help her situation). Shotgun was a solo man, a faceless hero. She didn't mind killing him. She just didn't want to kill the man underneath.

The Masqued Heart was so close to pulling the trigger. The man closed his eyes and took a deep breath. This was it. She cocked the gun and swallowed hard. One. Two.

No. She couldn't do it. Her hand fell limply to her side. The gun clattered to the ground. Shotgun opened his eyes in surprise.

"I can't kill you," she sighed, squeezing her eyes shut. "You're not Shotgun. You're just a man."

He seemed to understand what she meant because he nodded.

"Don't feel bad for not being able to kill me. I'm indestructible anyway; the bullet wouldn't have done much," he said shrugging.

The villain opened her eyes in shock. "What? Are you serious? How did I not know that by now? And why couldn't you have told me before I tried to kill you?"

"I wanted to see if you'd actually do it, and if you honestly didn't know a bullet wouldn't kill me," he said simply. "Also, I untied these knots ten minutes ago."

Shotgun stood from the chair and the rope fell to the ground.

"So what? You were just waiting until I actually pulled the trigger to defend yourself?" Maya huffed, frustrated that the man was so many steps ahead of her.

"It makes for great dramatic effect," the man grinned.

"Are you gonna turn me in now? Kill me instead?" The woman asked.

"Well, no," he looked down. "That's not really the kind of thing an ordinary guy like me would do. After all, you saved my life."

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

"What I mean is, if you couldn't kill me while I was without my mask it wouldn't be right for me to carry on as Shotgun and turn you in. Let's just say, when I'm not wearing my mask, I'm not Shotgun. You're a complete stranger who just spared my life," the man said. He smiled sweetly and offered his hand, "I'm Lucas Friar."

She took his hand a shook it hesitantly, wondering what game he was playing.

"Can I get your name? Maybe a face to go with it?" He asked friendly.

"How do I know this isn't some trap, cowboy?" she sneered.

Lucas gave her a look, "I just told you my real identity and that I wouldn't try to defeat you as long as I'm not wearing my mask."

The blonde girl crossed her arms, "How do I know it isn't a fake name?"

Lucas patted his suit, looking for something. "Ah, here it is," he said, pulling a wallet out from one of his pockets. Really? He keeps his wallet in his superhero suit? He handed her a small card. It was his driver's license.

"This could be fake," she said, but she was slowly beginning to trust that this man, Lucas, really was differentiating himself from Shotgun.

"It's not."

"Alright, I must be crazy," she sighed.

The Masqued Heart pulled the scarf off her head, revealing her light blonde hair tucked into two messy braids that fell down her back. Then, she pulled the masquerade mask off of her face and met his piercing green eyes with her own blue. It was the first time she couldn't read a person's face. Lucas seemed conflicted, but not necessarily in a negative way.

"Maya," she told him. "I'm Maya Hart."

Lucas smiled again and she felt like swooning (okay, she really needed to cool it with this).

"That's a beautiful name, for a beautiful girl," he told her sweetly. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Hart."

"No offense, but I'm still going to call you Huckleberry."

Lucas laughed and shook his head.

"You do realize this is insane, right? We know each other's identities now," Maya told him.

"Why can't we just be two people who just met? We can have a fresh start," Lucas suggested.

"I had a knife at your throat and a gun pointed at you like, five minutes ago," she reminded him.

"No, the Masqued Heart held a knife and gun towards Shotgun," Lucas grinned. Maya narrowed her eyes. This man was enjoying himself far too much. He was lucky he was pretty or she would've smacked him.

"Okay, _Lucas_ , it was nice 'bumping into you'," Maya said, playing along. "I'll see you around I guess."

As Maya turned around, to vanish with her invisibility and leave the building, the attractive man stopped her.

"Wait, can I give you my number? We could get coffee sometime or something."

Maya bit her lip, trying not to smile. This man was really something wasn't he? Yes, it was insane that he, the hero, was asking her, the villain, out on a date, but Maya didn't even care. Lucas seemed like a nice guy, and it had been a while since she had met a nice guy. Sure, this could all go to hell and end in burning flames, but it could also end really well. Maybe, Maya could change and be good after all (she already knew that this cowboy wouldn't be swaying to the dark side anytime soon). The blonde girl was always welcoming to the unexpected twists in her life. Lucas, not Shotgun, was a _very_ unexpected- and attractive- twist. So… why not?

Maya turned around and smiled, genuinely smiled for the first time in awhile, at him. She dug her phone out of her belt pouch and handed it to him to put his number in.

"Coffee would be great."

And that's the beginning of how a hero and his arch nemesis ended up falling in love.

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